September 26th Dr. Akagi
(Japan -- 1998 -- 128 min.)

Shohei Imamura claims that this film is his last. In Japan near the end of WW2, a small-town physician nicknamed "Dr. Liver" obsessively pursues his quest to eradicate hepatitis, building up to "an ending of unsurpassed weirdness and apocalyptic poetry" (J. Hoberman, Village Voice). As in The Eel, the protagonist surrounds himself with a band of misfits. "[An] idiosyncratic blend of frank earthiness, harsh flippancy, bizarre kinks and flashes of unlikely formal beauty" (Janet Maslin, N.Y. Times).

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October 3rd Saint Clara
(Isreal -- 1996 -- 85min.)

A young girl's psychic abilities are revealed when her entire class aces a math test; her mother warns her that she'll lose her powers when she falls in love. This film swept the Israeli Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and five other prizes. "Elements of whimsy [with a] sarcastic, satirical edge" (Mick LaSalle, SF Chronicle). 
 

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October 10 Gabbeh
(France/Iran -- 1996 -- 75 min.)

"Absolutely magnificent pictures... both refined and extravagant" (Stanley Kauffman, The New Republic). This is the film that announced that Iranian cinema had arrived. The title refers to a richly colored carpet whose weaving tells a story; the carpet in question tells of a young woman whose father repeatedly puts obstacles in the path of her wedding. "A rhapsody of textures ... Gabbeh is a visual wonder, folkloric and folk-lyrical..." (Richard Corliss, Time).

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October 17th

Comrades: Almost a Love Story
(Hong Kong -- 1996 -- 118 min.)

Before Peter Chan came to the U.S. to makeThe Love Letter, he perfected the art of the romantic comedy with this gem, which won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards. This sweet, romantic tearjerker provides the great Maggie Cheung (Irma Vep) with one of her best roles. If you like movies where lovers say goodbye on rainy piers in the dead of night, you'll love this film for its "sweetness, gravity, and good humor" (Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian). "An emotionally extravagant tale with a well-defined hero and heroine... in a sharply observed, rapidly changing real world" (Kevin Thomas, L.A. Times)

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October 24th Hands on a Hardbody
(USA -- 1997 -- 97 min.)

"If you really want something, you've got to keep your hands on it." The hardbody is the grand prize in an East Texas contest: the last person to take his/her hands off a pickup truck gets to drive it home. This "wonderfully observant, surprisingly fascinating" (Anita Gates, N.Y. Times) film documents the four-day competition. The Boston Globe's Jay Carr calls this crowd-pleasing documentary "a surprisingly affecting metaphor for American life as an ongoing exercise in endurance."

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October 31st The Housemaid
(South Korea -- 1960 -- 90 min.)

Rare U.S. Screening! Without question the best film from Korea's most idiosyncratic filmmaker, this bizarre melodrama depicts the personal costs of Korea's rapid post-war modernization. A young housemaid tries to steal her employer away from his wife; her schemes include poisoning, murder, and suicide attempts! Imagine Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) crossed with David Lynch (Twin Peaks) and you won't be far off. Courtesy of the Korean Film Archive

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November 7th Drifting Clouds
(Finland -- 1996 -- 96 min.)

Special U.S. Screening! Director Aki Kaurismäki (Leningrad Cowboys Go America) describes his film as a cross between The Bicycle Thief and It's a Wonderful Life, which perfectly describes his mix of despair and joy. A young couple struggle to find work after being downsized, tiptoeing through a world defined by corruption and exploitation. "And then, improbably, there is a happy ending... [involving] the perfectly titled Helsinki Workers' Wrestlers" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). The phrase "human comedy" didn't really mean anything until Kaurismäki came along. Presented with the assistance of the Finnish Cultural Consulate.

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November 14th After Life
(Japan -- 1998 -- 118 min.)

Before Maborosiand After Life, Kore-eda Hirokazu was best-known for his documentaries; Allen Johnson (San Francisco Examiner) calls him "one of the most distinctive voices in world cinema today." The setting: a weigh station for the recently departed. The heroes: a team of overburdened caseworkers. Their job: to help their clients choose the single memory they want to take into the afterlife. "Brilliant, humorous, transcendently compassionate..." (Stephen Holden, N.Y. Times)